Mitt Romney earned a big political thumbs-up Friday from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who praised the former Massachusetts governor for talking straight with voters in his speech on health care.

Romney has faced blowback from the right over his Thursday address in Michigan, where he outlined his views on health policy and refused to apologize for enacting universal health care legislation as governor.

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Romney delivers healthcare speech

POLITICO 44

Instead, Romney defended the law he signed — which includes a mandate on individuals to purchase health insurance — as a policy that was “right for the people of my state.”

In a statement to POLITICO, Christie applauded Romney for that approach, though Christie stopped well short of endorsing the Massachusetts policy itself.

“Gov. Romney’s speech yesterday was just the type of tone we need,” Christie said. “While folks may not agree with what he said, that type of candor is what Americans expect from a serious presidential candidate today.”

The warm words from Christie will bring welcome relief to Romney, whose speech drew harsh reviews from other prominent conservative voices. The Wall Street Journal published back-to-back editorials Thursday and Friday blasting Romney’s record on health care and panning his speech as an ideological “daredevil act.”

But to the average Republican primary voter, Christie’s approval may matter more. The Garden State governor has become a hero to many in the GOP thanks to his reputation as a plain-spoken, principled conservative who sticks to his core beliefs.

For Romney, who was effectively branded as a flip-flopper during his 2008 presidential run, the message that he’ll stick to his views even if they’re unpopular could be a helpful one.

During his speech in Michigan, Romney played up the idea that he was sailing against the political winds.

“A lot of pundits around the nation are saying that I should just stand up and say this whole thing was a mistake,” he said of the Massachusetts health care law. “I presume that a lot of folks would conclude that if I did that, that would be good for me politically. But there’s only one problem with that: It wouldn’t be honest.”

Readers' Comments (41)

Once again, Mitt Romney is the only adult in the room. He acknowledges the tough issue that health care reform is and experiments with solutions RATHER THAN bury his head in the sand like the conservative right does. Or worse, the conservative right ENDORSED the individual mandate a few years ago and then FLIP-FLOPPED when Obama made his own version of it.

And what does Pawlenty, Paul, or Daniels plan to do with all of those uninsured people? You see Romney is the one with the CAJONES to confront the issue - the rest of the crowd (FOX NEWS INCLUDED) wants to just sit back and moan that someone had the balls to try and fix the problem.

Libertarians would argue that NOTHING should be done at all. Yeah, and who suffers the most? UNINSURED CHILDREN! If the conservatives think that it's better to keep children uninsured rather than try to solve the problem, then conservatives should NOT be in the White House.

Romney/Christie 2012 - the only Republican with the courage and heart to confront tough issues.

You call it candor, I call it the biggest mistake in his political career. I would never vote for a candidate that supports socialized medicine. If Christie or Daniels do not run we will have NO chance. HUCK took you down last time Mitt and that is why we had such a weak candidate in mccain. You did it to yourself this time. After your mistake speech I will never vote for you again!

Christie knows Romney will come out on top on this. Romney got this out of the way early as a smart political move but will use it to demonstrate evidence that he does not bend to the political winds. His stance on health care and his faith are two things he has overwhelmingly demonstrated he will not apologize for. America tires of politicians that jettison their beliefs when they against popular opinion. That means you Huntsman and Pawlenty...

Christie knows Romney will not come out on top on this and therefore needs to help endorse him. Romney tries to get this out of the way early as an apparent political move born out of survival but it will still haunt him throughout the election season. His stance on health care and his faith are two things he has overwhelmingly demonstrated he will not apologize for but prefers to flip flop. America tires of politicians that jettison their beliefs when they against popular opinion. That means you Huntsman and Pawlenty and Romney...

Health savings accounts is and always has been the answer for this bad situation of high costs that we are in. There are various ways to set this kind of system up.

Dealing directly with your chosen doctors on treatments and costs will quickly lower costs. You will inform yourself on these things when you actually see the expenses and pay in cash or by check. Doctors will be vying for your business.

The American people want honest and straight talking politicians, we don't want politicians that will talk the talk but not walk the walk. We are tired of politicians only saying what the people and their base want to hear. It's time to be brutally honest with us, we are waiting and we will reward those who are honest.

I have no idea what Romney said but I trust Christe.The press just presents what they want you to believe he is saying. They go on to spout their bias. This whole thing comes down to trust. Can we trust the Media?

Instead, Romney defended the law he signed — which includes a mandate on individuals to purchase health insurance — as a policy that was “right for the people of my state.”

I voted for Romney in California's Republican primary in 2008 precisely because he was attempting to find market solutions to real problems, such as creating access to decent health care for all Americans.

The WSJ is just parroting the business 'stand pat' line that all a candidate has to do is deny that a problem exists, then there is no necessity to try and fix it. That may be a good strategy for selling papers to the Big Money crowd. It is a horrible strategy, however, if one wishes to make this country a better place, where the people's needs are being met.

Romney's speech wasn't straight talk at all. He refuses to acknowledge that his oppostion to Obama's health care reform is totally at odds with his longstanding support for essentially the same plan.

Romney says he's proud of Romneycare. He opposes Obama's health care plan, even though it is very, very similar to Romneycare.

He tries to explain that away by saying it was right for his state, but shouldn't be imposed nationally, However, in 1994 he supported Senator John Chafee's proposal to pass mandatory private insurance coverage which also was very, very similar to Obama's plan.

Straight talk would have entailed him either saying he supports Obama's health care reform law, or that he was wrong to support such measures in the past. He won't do the former because it would kill his nomination effort, and he won't do the latter because it only worsens his well-earned reputation as a flip-flopper.

Mitt Romney earned a big political thumbs-up Friday from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who praised the former Massachusetts governor for talking straight with voters in his speech on health care.

EVERYONE that really knows Mitt loves Mitt.........................my fellow Americans if you want to know the real Mitt you will have to bypass the radical ideologues that pretend to bring you news............

Health savings accounts is and always has been the answer for this bad situation of high costs that we are in. There are various ways to set this kind of system up.

Dealing directly with your chosen doctors on treatments and costs will quickly lower costs. You will inform yourself on these things when you actually see the expenses and pay in cash or by check. Doctors will be vying for your business.

HSA's and tort reform, that will do it.

You are 100% right. America will never solve its healthcare funding crisis until consumers have some "skin in the game". Most people who go to the Dr have no idea what it costs and have no incentive to be smart consumers. Doctors perform 3 times as many tests as necessary out of fear of being sues. Obamcare just makes this so much worse and it would be even worse if we ever got single payer as their would be massive rationing.

Romney is awesome. The so called experts all have great health care. The average Joe can not afford it because of the reasons Mitt mentioned. If the insured pool keeps shrinking the costs will keep rising. A bloatted fedral plan is not the answer. Romney got it right. The states need to solve it. Interesting that in 2005 no one had a solution. He tried in a bipartisan manner to solve a serious problem as govenor and came up with a plan where everyone has a seat in the life raft. If it needs fixed, they have a bipartisan plan that they can fix or throw out. Unfortunately the elite are throwing him under the bus.